SDCC 2014: Marvel AXIS

Today we got our first real glimpse into Marvel Comic’s next big event after Original Sin, AXIS. Starting in October, AXIS is the first event that will truly bring together the X-Men and the Avengers after the war between them in 2012 and the formation of the Avengers Unity Squad in the pages of Uncanny Avengers.

The panel was emceed by Nick Lowe, senior editor at Marvel, and featured Axel Alonso, editor in Chief at Marvel Comics, Jordan B. White, another Marvel editor, Mike Marts, executive editor at Marvel, and Rick Remender, current writer of Uncanny Avengers and Captain America, as well as the writer for the upcoming Axis event.

But first, Remender went into some detail about the upcoming All New Captain America, which he will be writing. In recent stories, Steve Rodgers has been getting older and won’t be able to fight any more, and Sam Wilson, aka the Falcon, will be taking up the shield in his stead. Remender said he was really excited about “Falcon Cap,” and loves working with a character that is more fit with “modern times.” He also noted that in the first issue of All New Captain America, which hits the stands in October, we’ll get to see a retelling of Sam’s origin, and what makes him such a great character.

They also went on to announce a new, original graphic novel from Remender: Avengers: Rage of Ultron. Featuring art by Jerome Opena, this in continuity story will chronicle Ultron’s rise to power from some of the Avengers’ early days, as well as the post AXIS team.

And then we went on to the main event: Axis! For those who haven’t been following, the Red Skull has bio-grafted Charles Xavier’s brain to his own, and now has total control over his telepathic powers. Leading an army of Avengers and X-Men villains against the world, the Avengers and X-Men finally put aside their differences and band together to stop the evil army. Remender hinted that a lot of characters would be important in this event, specifically Magneto, Iron Man, Scarlet Witch, and the all new Falcon Cap. Though too many details would have been too spoiler-y, the events that lead up to Axis will make everything spiral out of control – and lead to a lot of pain.

A Q&A followed, with one or two notable questions: one, Remender talked about how he decided to use Onslaughts armor again for the Red Skull, a decision that was actually made by Tom Brevort. At first he was resistant, but as it sat on him, he said it was like they struck gold. Another question was asked about the new Female Thor, and how she would be involved, as the now unworthy Thor (or as their calling him, Odinson) can be seen on some of the promo material for Axis. Remender said, timeline wise, our new Thor wouldn’t pick up the hammer until after the event, but that we’d be seeing her very soon.

A good panel with a lot to look forward to, look for Avengers and X-Men: AXIS coming out this October.